Sensex falls over 150 points, Nifty below 11,600; banks, auto stocks decline

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Opening Bell: Sensex falls over 150 points, Nifty below 11,600; banks, auto stocks decline

The Indian market opened lower on Thursday following losses in global markets after the US Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee indicated the overnight rate could stay close to zero for years to reach its 2 percent inflation target.

At 9:15 am, the Sensex opened 0.46 percent, or 182.21 points, lower at 39,120.64, while the Nifty50 index opened at 11,539.40, down 65.15 points, or 0.56 percent. Nifty Bank fell more than 200 points.

Broader markets Nifty Smallcap100 and Nifty Midcap100 indices witnessed a fall of over 0.3 percent each.

Barring Nifty Pharma, all other sectoral indices traded in the red with Nifty Private Bank falling the most followed by Nifty Metals, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty IT and Nifty Auto.

ICICI Bank, BajajAuto, Hindalco, Wipro and IndusInd Bank led the decline among Nifty50 constituents while Dr Reddy’s Labs, ZEEL, ONGC, Grasim Industries and Cipla were the top index gainers.

Globally, stocks fell and the dollar advanced on Thursday after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low for a long time but stopped short of offering further on stimulus to shore up a battered US economy.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.82 percent, running out of steam after five straight days of gains. Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.45 percent.

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